How To Market Your Music
SO THE MAIN GOAL IS TO GET YOUR MUSIC OUT TO AS MANY PEOPLE/BLOGS AS POSSIBLE (IN YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE) IN THE QUICKEST AMOUNT OF TIME. THE WAY TO DO THAT IS BY GOING AFTER THE BIGGER BLOGS, PLUS THE PEOPLE THAT YOU KNOW WILL LISTEN TO AND SHARE YOUR MUSIC.
Put together a list of all the music blogs that you are in contact with. You might want to put this information into an excel spreadsheet that has ‘name of blog’ ‘web address’ ‘point of contact’ (name + phone if applicable) and ‘submission email.’ Once you’re done you will have a clear picture of all the music blogs that you can send your music to, and you can add to this list as often as possible.
Use Tune-core to post your single/EP to iTunes, cdbaby, amazon.com etc. Just go to (www.tunecore.com) and they will walk you through it.
EMAIL BLAST – Prepare a press release and send to everyone relevant on your contacts list (You should organize your contacts into categories like ‘music blogs’ ‘DJ’s’ ‘music execs’ ‘artists’). Be sure to include your music video, links to your websites, link to iTunes download, photo of you, and a small bio.
Gather up ALL write ups about your music and post them on your website. You might also want to share them on Facebook and Twitter and any other social networking site that you are a part of. Music reviews are a great cosign!
Go through your twitter followers and create private lists: categorize followers into ‘blogs’, ‘producers’ ‘artists’ ‘fans’ (consider fans people that you KNOW will RT your video). I don’t suggest that you sit there and tweet every person on your list, especially if you already sent them an email, but a tiny twitter blast to a select few relevant people is fine.
PERFORMANCES! – All of your online marketing is not going to matter unless you combine it with performances and appearances. You have to bring your online buzz offline. Line up as many shows as possible in your hometown and the surrounding areas.
Contact your local media outlets and look into scheduling a few interviews. Use those interviews to promote your new music and performances.
Find a few DJ’s that would be willing to spin your single at their venues or on their radio show.
Get a few dozen shirts made with your logo and give them out at your performances. Also get a few hundred hard copies of your EP to give away. Giveaways are always great. You might spend a bit of money to do so, but it will be worth it.
Before you release any music you need to get people hype about it. Come up with something creative to get people excited to hear it. Get your immediate circle talking, get their associates talking, etc. You don’t create a buzz by reaching out to a whole bunch of people who don’t even know who you are, you create one by starting small and building out. Word of mouth buzz is a beautiful thing. Think of the ‘share’ button on Facebook and YouTube and the Retweet button on Twitter as the modern day ‘word of mouth’. Your goal should be to get as many people to share your music as possible, not just listen.
